2025 Kia Tasman ute will offer a full range

A Ford Ranger Raptor rival is off the agenda for the mid-2025 Australian launch range of the hugely anticipated Kia Tasman ute.

Instead, Kia will initially come to Aussie buyers offering a wide range of mainstream double-cab, single-cab and cab/chassis body styles, plus 4x2 and 4x4 drivetrains with manual and automatic transmissions – all combined with 2.2-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder power.

While that range will include a blue-collar tool-of-trade ute and a luxury Ford Ranger Platinum rival and competition for the off-road oriented Toyota HiLux GR Sport are also expected, a full-fat desert racer to take on the Raptor has been ruled out.

But that’s only for the launch range. The good news that an expensive top-end flagship variant remains a wanted model within Tasman’s roughly 10-year life cycle.

“Raptor may be a bit of a stretch,” Kia Australia product planning general manager Roland Rivero admitted when asked about the launch Tasman line-up. “Raptor is a very special product.

“The thing that is reassuring about this type of product [a ladder-frame ute] is it has a very long model life and what you launch with doesn’t mean that’s what you are stuck with.”

The Raptor comes with a 3.0-litre twin-turbo petrol V6, substantially modified ladder frame, trick suspension including adaptive Fox shocks and rear coil springs. Developing a rival for it would be an expensive and time-consuming project, so Kia has pushed it down the priority list.

The same applies to other potential future model spin-offs from the Tasman’s ladder-frame basics, including hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains.

A battery electric ute based on the Tasman’s ladder frame is also part of the follow-up line-up, expected as soon as 2026.

“We have the desire to – and we have made it clear to the powers that be at our R&D centre and our HQ – that we need a halo variant and a green variant, let’s just say, or something of a statement given it is our first one.

“Watch this space, but at this stage we can only confirm the [2.2-litre] diesel.

However, a two-door extra-cab has been ruled out because of diminishing market interest and the prospect of a petrol-powered entry-level vehicle to tackle Toyota and its fleet-favourite HiLux Workmate looks slim.

“There is a petrol possibility, but we are just not sure it is going work,” admitted Rivero.

“We just have to really assess if we want to take on that,” he added. “It’s one of those things where you have to assess: do we have the ability to get to that kind of a price point and at the same time… they have… a great fleet team and budget… so it’s hard to compete in that regard.”

Kia Australia has set itself a 20,000-25,000 annual sales target for the Tasman, making this the second biggest market for the new ute globally behind its Korean home market.

If it hits that number it expects to surpass Mazda and other big players, entrenching itself as number two behind Toyota on the local new-vehicle sales ladder.

Those ambitious numbers explain why Kia has gone for the big-selling ute segments first as it chases strong private and fleet sales.

“There will be a very broad model range,” confirmed Rivero. “There will be single-cab/chassis, double-cab/chassis, double-cab pick-up.

“We are making sure we cater to a great breadth of customer types.”

Kia Australia has been heavily involved in the development, testing and goal-setting for the Tasman. A five-star ANCAP rating, 3.5-tonne braked towing capacity and one-tonne payload are all “non-negotiables”.

Kia is expected to officially confirm some details of its new ute within months, including its Tasman name. Disguised examples will hit the road in Australia within months ahead of a full global reveal before the end of 2024.

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